Accel World: Akira SS
by monkeysrumble
Summary: Ito Akira lives an apparently normal life. His entire life was changed when he discovered the power of Brain Burst. Akira begins his adventures in the Accelerated World in order to escape from his reality. However the past catches up with him far faster than he expected. Takes place before/during the events of the novel. OC
1. The Tedious Cycle

I awake to my 6:30 alarm screaming in my ear, like a lifeless husk and hit the snooze button through my Neuro Linker. I pressed the snooze button several times before I finally make the conscious effort to look at the time.

"It's past 7 o'clock already..." I mumble to myself before rolling out of my bed.

I do my morning ritual of showering, cooking breakfast, brushing my teeth, combing my hair and heading out of the door to catch the city bus. By the time I'm at school it's already 8:15. I usually get to school at about this time since I always wake up late. I guess that's what you get for staying up to three in the morning everyday. I head up to my home room classes hoping not to get interrupted. However...

"Good morning, Akira-kun!" yelled out Sora, my childhood friend while rubbing my gold hair

"Good morning..." I respond in a monotone voice not having the energy to do anything about him rubbing my head.

"Still as energetic as ever I see." Sora said sarcastically while pushing me into my homeroom. "I'll see you at lunch time Akira!" He shouted while walking to his homeroom.

Sora has been my best friend since elementary school. To be honest I'm not even sure how we became friends, we started talking and I guess we just became friends after a bit. I think he may have felt bad for me that I never talked to anyone. It's not like I'm bullied or anything, it's just that I don't feel the need for social interaction with anyone.

The teacher walks into the classroom. Everyone rises and bows and sits back down. The teacher begins teaching the class. I however decide to read the book I was reading last night through my Neuro Linker, I manage to grab some pieces of information from the teacher but I ultimately decide that I can just read the textbook if I want the information I need. Anything I don't know I can just look up through my Neuro Linker. I read my book until I finish it, by this time lunch is going to start in 5 minutes. I simply rest my head on the desk and wait for the bell.

For lunch time I sit in the hallway sipping on some cup-noodles I brought from home. Sora walks and sits down next to me.

"Hello Akira, how was the morning classes?" he asked.

"I finished reading the book I started last night." I replied while slurping up some noodles. Some emotion is coming back to my voice since I started waking up.

"You never do anything in class do you?" Sora said with a disappointed expression on his face.

"That's not true, I get average scores on my test, I participate well in class discussions and I'm usually more informed then the rest of the class when it comes right down to it." I defend myself against his false statement. Everything I said was true, I know quite a bit about the topics in class. I just don't usually use the teacher to teach me everything and instead learn it all on my own.

"Sure you're most informed then everyone else but you never try hard. I bet if you actually took down notes you would get good grades." Sora replied back to my defense.

I'm not about to deny that what he said was indeed correct. I sigh and say nothing to try to end the conversation. The lunch passes by while me and Sora discuss small talk discussions.

After lunch I actually put a little bit more effort in school. I play around with apps on my Neuro Linker while listening to the teacher in the background. For my last period class I had gym. This really is the only class I couldn't just sit down and do nothing. For this class I did what I was told so I wouldn't get yelled at by the coach and would solve math problems from an app on my Neuro Linker so I wouldn't get bored. Sora rushed up beside me.

"Hey Akira, why are you running so slow? I had some things to do for the student council and I still managed to catch up with!" Sora exclaimed.

"I'm not running slow, I'm with the rest of the class. You just have so much energy that you don't know what to do with it." I replied back.

"Well you better catch up to me Akira!" He yelled and pushed me to give me a boost. This didn't turn out quite as he imagined and I tripped on my feet and crashed to the dirt on the track. The entire class rushed over to me taking advantage of the situation so they could take a break.

"Yo Akira, you alright?" One of my classmates asked. The coach ran over "Why the hell did you guys stop running!?" he yelled. "Akira tripped and fell, it looks like he scrapped his knee." a classmate told the coach. "C'mon Akira, man up and keep running!" The coach demanded. I stood up and shook off the pain. The scrap wasn't a bad wound in my books though the girls stared at it like my entire leg got blown off. I continued running and the rest of the class followed.

"I'm sorry about that..." Sora mumbled to me trying to make it so his voice wasn't heard.

"It's alright, just don't make a habit of it." I sighed. I may have lied a little. I was yelled at by the coach which is what I have been avoiding all year and I drew attention to myself which I never do. To be truthful I was a little pissed off. I don't want to show it though because it will bring even more attention to myself.

The school day was over and I went to my shoe locker to put on my outdoor shoes. I actually didn't attend any clubs in the school. I would immediately go home after school to start making dinner. I made dinner and walked into my Mom's bedroom.

"Dinner is ready Mom." I handed her a bowl of rice with curry on it.

My Mom turned over at me a smiled with sweat pouring down her face. "Thanks Akira, I'm not really that hungry right now. I've been having a bad day so please just put the food in the fridge." Mom meekly replied to me. I nodded and proceeded to put the food away.

It was already about 7:00pm by the time I ate dinner and went upstairs to do homework. I decided to go outside and head to a cafe where I would go and sip down some chai tea and go on Global Connect where I'll spend the rest of my day.

This was my daily routine. Wake up, eat, go to school, make dinner and relax at the local cafe. This tedious cycle that I live through known as a normal life was more then it was worth. This is a life that many people wanted to live and I would trade it in a heart beat. Deep down inside I wanted something to change my world. Even if it was just for a day I wanted something that was different from my normal day life, perhaps what I want was only a childish fantasy, but still I hoped that something to come and change everything. This endless cycle was tedious and boring.

I sat down in the cafe chair and closed my eyes. "Direct Link." I muttered to myself

I was now within a new world created through the global network. The place I was in was like a classical theater with a huge stage with hundreds of pedestals. I was at one of these pedestals along with hundreds of other people. My avatar looked exactly like myself except that I wore and old style wool suit. The reason I was here was because a competition was being held. In this game random questions will be asked to see who is the smartest. The age group allowed in was 13-17. I was 15 years old so I was obviously allowed in.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the 2046 Random Knowledge Trivia!" The A.I announced to the crowd. "Where 250 contestants will compete to see who knows the most information. Please keep in mind that these questions can go from math to classical literature to popular music groups. Now let the trivia begin!"

A screen appeared on my pedestal asking the first question. _What was the biggest incident to happen in _

_VR gaming that took the lives of 4000 people?_ I answered the simple question with the Sword Art Online incident.

The questions kept on rolling and I answered all of them with ease. The questions kept going and people kept on getting eliminated. After an hour it was down to the final two.

"Looks like we have our finalists! Who will win the trivia? The last question is on now!"

The screen pops up on my pedestal telling me the question _If you initially have a gas at 1215.6 kpm at a volume of 23 liters and a temperature of -73C and then raise the pressure to 1418.2 kpm and the temperature to 27C what is the new volume of the gas?_

I know this is a question concerning the combined gas law so I started doing the math in my head. The person I was competing with looked the same age as me but he seemed to have no idea what he was doing. Finally I came up with an answer.

_29.6L_ I put in as the answer. I got the question right and wait for my opponent to answer. In the end he never answered the question and I won the trivia.

"Congratulations! You win a prize of 150,000 yen!" The A.I announcer proclaimed to the audience.

I would attend these small contests to win extra cash. My mother was sick so I would usually put all the money I got from my old man for her medication and food. I would attend these contests so I could buy a VR game or books.

I walk away from the theater area with my 150,000 yen added to my bank account. The first thing to pop up in my head was what to buy with the money I won. However, when I walked away from the theater I left a strange feeling in my gut. It felt as though someone has been following me since I won the competition. I continued to walk but the feeling didn't go away. I continued to look at reflective surfaces to see if anyone was following me. After awhile I noticed that I was being followed by a women who looked about my age wearing an old fashioned dress. Normally someone like this would stand out in a crowd, however since this is global connect there are people in weird costumes everywhere, even I'm wearing old style clothing. However I need to find out who this person is and why they're following me. Since this environment is a city like environment the only place I can go to with not many people is an alleyway or a small cafe. If I was in a ally then I would probably have a higher chance of contacting this person since there are less people around. Having come to a decision I turn the corner and walk into a alley.

I stopped in the middle of the alley and turn around. To my surprise I see the girl at the end of the alley staring at me. Our eyes meet. She's actually kind of cute up close, she has long chestnut brown hair going down to her waist and she looked like she was 15-years old and she had decent sized breasts too. Her blue eyes stared me down like she was infuriated at me.

"I've noticed you've been following me. I'm not sure if you're mad that you lost the trivia or not but it's fair game." I blurted out jumping to assumptions on why she was mad.

"You cheat...you've been abusing the program to excel in everything you do. I'm not sure how you are hiding your duel avatar from the list but I, Jasmine Hawk challenge you to a duel!" She declared.

I have been abusing the program? Hiding my duel avatar? Challenging me to a duel!? What the hell was she talking about? "Listen, I'm not sure what you're talking about, but if you want a rematch just show me the way to another trivia. If you want to challenge me at anything else then just make sure I have the game." I replied, guessing on what she meant.

"Don't change the subject, I know you have been using brain burst in order to improve your life. Everything you have been doing is almost impossible for any human to do. Your reaction time in VR games is to good and it's impossible to understand what is going on in class without accelerating and getting the answers, so just admit it and challenge me to a duel so I can take away your burst points!" She was getting annoyed from my half-ass answer. I knew it was too much to hope that she was talking about the trivia.

Wait a minute, did she say something about class? She must go to my school. And VR games? How long has she been following me around for?

"Listen, I'm not sure what you're talking about. If my name isn't on this list of yours then that is evidence enough that I don't have this acceleration program you're talking about." I once again said while trying to piece everything together.

There was silence in the air. The girls eyes were wide open as if she just realized something. "You mean you've done all that from pure skill?" She asked me.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you..." I replied, relieved that she finally understood.

"THAT'S INCREDIABLE! You're this talented and you're not even using Brain Burst? I can't even imagine how strong your duel avatar would be if you had Brain Burst." She exclaimed excitedly.

"What is this Brain Burst program you've been talking about? How would it help someone cheat at VR games and school?" I asked now getting curious on what she has been talking about.

"I see, come to my apartment. It's right across the street from the grocery store. My room is number 312. What you're going to learn is going to change your life forever. So come and I'll make it worth your while." She said while winking at me. She then moved her fingers to pull out the main menu and logged out.

Change my life? What the hell was she on about? Any sane person right now would just forget about all this and move on with their life. For some odd reason I was compelled to hear her out and I ended up at her apartment door. I took a deep breath and knocked on her door.

After a few second she answered the door. She looks remarkably like her duel avatar but instead of the old fashioned dress she was wearing pretty normal clothes. Just a t-shirt and jeans. She wore pretty masculine clothes considering her avatar.

"Come on in Ito-kun." She invited me in to her home I walk into her living room. Her kitchen was right next to me and I could see steam coming from a kettle. "Would you like some tea Ito-kun?" She asked out of politeness.

"Yes please and also please just call me Akira. I don't like it when people call me by my last name." I asked her.

" I see, well then Akira-kun please take a seat. I will be with you in a bit with some tea."

I sit down on her coach nervously. Now that I think about it this is the first time I've been to a girls house. I also realized that I don't even know this girls name. The girl walks in with a tray with two cups of green tea.

"I'm sorry to ask but what's your name?" I asked nervously.

"How rude that you don't know someone who attends the same school as you. I am Hayashi Chika. I'm in the girls gym class. I sometimes do co-ed sports with your class."

How am I suppose to remember someone who sometimes attends one class with me? Well whatever I suppose I should get to the point with her.

"It's pretty late so I think we should keep this short. What is Brain Burst?" I get straight to the point.

"Brain Burst isn't something that I could explain and be believed by someone. You're going to have to see it with your own eyes." She replied while reaching for a XSB cable.

"What are you doing with that!?" I yelped out loud. You would usually use an XLB cable with someone your dating or really close to.

"You can't install it unless you're using this cable. Now hurry up and plug this into your neck."

I shield my thoughts so she can't hear what I'm thinking and we both at the same time but the XLB cable on our Neuro-Linkers.

"Can you hear me?" She asked with her thoughts through the XLB cable.

"Y-yea I can hear you." I would normally keep my cool but I'm kind of nervous since this is my first time doing this, and I'm even doing it with a girl.

"Oh so this is your first time?" She asked flirtatiously

Crap, she can hear all my thoughts can't she? Well I guess I can think of random math problems in order to censor my brain from h-

"Please don't do that, you'll give me a headache."

"I guess I'll need some practice censoring my thoughts. Anyway show me it, show me Brain Burst." I asked now determined to figure out what Brain Burst is.

"I see. I can hear all your guess's with the XLB cable and one of them is right. It is a VR fighting game, but there is more to it then that." She said while waving her hand around.

As her hand waved in the hair I received a download request. [Execute BB 2039? YES/NO]. I stared at the request and knew what I had to do. I pressed yes and in flames in a grunge style font was the words Brain Burst and a download bar. I waited intently for the download to pass by and looked at Hayashi who was staring intently at me back. The bar reached 100% and in the same font, words popped up that I knew would forever change my world.

**Welcome to the Accelerated World.**

** Author's Notes: Well this has been fun to write. Hello I am Devin Murray and this would be my first fan-fiction. Please leave a review so I can improve on my writing and make better stories for everyone to read. I know this was a bit dragged out but I found it was important for us to see Akira's daily routine. I also need to work on Chika's character a little bit next chapter as I didn't really have the time to develop her. **

** A lot of work needs to be done to make this fan-fic complete but I think that by the end with your guys help that I will have fine story. We just need to get through all the introductions.**

**Until next time!**

**~Devin Murray**


	2. The First Steppes into a Larger World

I stared at the screen that popped up before me. For some reason my insight was telling me that this is the dawn of a new day for my life, that everything was going to change. The room was silent for a moment. Chika was staring at me and I was just staring at the words before me.

"Did it install properly?" She asked me breaking the silence in the room.

"It did." I said getting right to the point.

I open up my apps to find the Brain Burst program but for some odd reason there was no launch button. Did it install correctly? Was it a viris? The odds are pretty high that it is since I did just come to a strangers house and installed an unknown app through a XLB cable.

"Trust me it installed correctly." Chika replied to my thoughts. Damn I hate this XLB cable, she can read all my thoughts. I better ask if I can-

"Yes you can take it off, we don't need it anymore." She said while taking off the XLB cable from her Neuro-Linker.

I do the same and pass her the XLB cable. "You said it installed correctly. How do I launch the game then?" I again just want to get to the point and figure it all out.

"Well you can't go into the fighting game until tomorrow. You can however use one feature of Brain Burst, repeat after me. Burst Link!" Chika announced.

"Burst Link!"

I was still in the same room but everything was now a weird blue colour. I look around the room and see me and Chika sitting on the couch frozen in place. I immediately looked at the clock to see it was frozen in time. Does Brain Burst freeze time? No that is impossible, however judging by the title and the term acceleration then I can take the assumption that right now time is still moving but a lot slower. No, even that should be impossible. This has to be a frozen picture of the room or something. I can't actually be accelerating.

"Surprised Ito-kun?" She asked me

"Sort of, from what I can tell we are in a 3D image of the room and apparently our brains are accelerating, also please just call me Akira." I stated my hypothesis.

"Wow, you sound just like Ken-sempai. I can't believe that you figured out the secret that fast." she sounded genuinely surprsied.

When I took a closer look at Chika I notice she is in a old fashioned dress again. I look down and see that I'm also wearing my wool suit.

"So we can can walk around this environment with our duel avatars." I stated

"Yes, using the Burst Link command we can accelerate for 30 minutes and inspect the environment with our global connect avatars. But since we're accelerating that 30 minutes seems like 1.8 seconds to people who are not accelerating." Chika finally filled in the blanks for me to understand this feature.

"Okay, I know how this works but what about the actual game feature?" I ask another question wanting to have all the answers.

"You can't play the game until tomorrow, you need to wait for your duel avatar to be constructed. Tomorrow after class's meet me in my classroom, room 1-A. Burst out!" she requested as her avatar disappeared

"I see...burst out!"

We were back in our bodies and the room was back to its normal colour. My first reaction was to look at the clock. It was true, not even a second passed by even though we had a 5 minute conversation. We really were accelerating.

"Oh yes one more thing, do not take off your Neuro-Linker and do not go on global connect, I wouldn't want you to lose all your points on the first day." Chika warned me. Wait a minute...

"Points? What points?" I asked

"Make it until tomorrow and I'll tell you."

Yea like that explains a lot...

* * *

I was back in my room. I could hear my Mom still up watching TV from her bedroom. The time was 11:30 at night. I wasn't allowed access to the global network so I decided to just play tetris through my installed apps. I played it for several hours and I went to bed by 1:30am just from being bored.

I was sitting in pitch darkness. I spot light was shined upon me almost singling that I was the only one that was here. I heard a clicking noise and another spot light was on, my mother was underneath it.

"Why...why do you have to have his face, your only just a reminder of my past mistakes." She spoke

I could only stand there and just take the statement, I was cold and didn't have the energy to react to that statement. Another clicking noise was heard and Sora was underneath it.

"You poor bastard, the only reason I talk to you is because I pity you. You were cast out by your own family and everyone around you. Someday I will move on from you and find myself a better life. You can't blame anyone for being cursed with his face." Sora said while smiling like he usually does.

I could still only stand there and take it. I had no reaction. I didn't care what was said about me. Another clicking noise was heard and a spotlight revealed a man. He said nothing but he had a face that resembled my own.

Just seeing him made me want to puke.

"You son of a bitch! You dare show your face to me? After cursing my Mom!? After cursing me!? And all you can do is sit there with that face!" I lost it, all sanity left my mind, because after seeing that face.

Even I broke down.

I charged at him but went right through him. That's right, this is just a dream. My senses return to me after this realization and I was back to my cold state.

Everyone disappeared and another click was heard. I turned around to look at the spotlight and saw myself inside.

"Having doubts about the people around you? Ito Akira." He was smiling, sinister and completely not like myself, in fact he was the the complete opposite. He was who I was afraid to become.

What he said was true. I had doubts about everyone. I had no idea what they were thinking and that thought scared me. I bore the face of that man, Sora knew, mother know and he knew it too. It was the face of a man who betrayed everyone and left us to die. He took everything valuable to me and left.

"Yes." I replied. "I'm scared of them, scared of the future, scared that they too will leave me, but I will prevail, I must prevail. I gave up on everything in my life but I can't let this down. The essence of Ito Akira must be solved, I will not allow myself to become like him. I will stick to my friends and family as they stuck out for me. I will find a way to break his curse." I replied not with a emotionless voice like I usually do, but with resolve in my heart.

"I will find the truth."

I awake in my bedroom to my alarm. I do not press the snooze button but I get out of my bed and greet the new day.

**Author's notes: Sorry that this update has been a bit slow. A lot of things have happened in the past week that even mind boggles me. A vacation that was suppose to be 1 night lasted into 4 days and 3 nights, I had a funeral to attend and I had paramedics come to my house because of my abnormally high heart rate. With all this going on I could really only publish the first half of the second chapter. The third chapter will have more development for Chika (though I said that last time) and I will show Akira's duel avatar. I will have the chapter published friday or saturday of this week so look forward to it.**

**Until next time!**

**~Devin Murray**


	3. Welcome to the Accelerated World

I walk to school with sweat still pouring down my neck. What was that dream? Is this what she meant by constructing a dual avatar? I could dismiss it all as a coincidence but deep down in my gut I know that this is no coincidence. As I was told I did not go on the global net (which for me is harder then it sounds since I've read everything installed on my neuro-linker).

"Whoa, you're actually here early today!?" Sora exclaimed to me in a loud voice.

It's true, usually I will sleep in pass 7 then get ready to go to class. After that dream though how could anyone fall back asleep...

"Just a strange day Sora, trust me I won't make a habit out of this." I explain myself as honestly as possible.

"By strange you mean it must be the end of the world or something, if you can keep this up everyday then maybe you may even become a responsible student!" Sora said loudly as ever.

"When that day comes it may very well be the end of the world..." I said in a very mellow tone, too tired to put any energy in my statement.

The bell rings to head to class. "I'll see you later Akira!" Sora leaves to go to his homeroom class. I also head to my homeroom class.

When I arrive at homeroom I sit down. Out of habit I was about to connect to the global net and do my own thing. However Hayashi's words echo into my ear. I can not connect to the global net or else I'll lose "points". Whatever these points are they seem to be very important to brain burst so I better just bear with it for the day.

The rest of the day I had nothing to do since I couldn't read other material except for class stuff. I actually spent the day taking down notes and answering questions. I may have made the teacher shit a few bricks but again I don't want to make a habit of this. As much as I hate my daily routine if I disturb it too much I draw attention to myself, and that is the last thing I want to do.

After all the classes were over it was time to meet Hayashi. I begin walking to class 1-A which was just down the hall from my classroom. After nearly a days wait I will finally understand the secrets of this Accelerated World.

I walk into the classroom. I walked in very close to the same time the bell rang so people were still packing stuff into their bags. I received a few stares from people, partially because I don't usually go around visiting people and no one knew who I was. I see Hayashi packing her stuff to leave as well. I walk up to her.

"You wanted to see me?" I asked a bit nervously. I'm not use to approaching people, never mind a girl.

"Well well well, you came here quickly. So how did the night treat you? Judging by your eyes I can guess it really didn't treat you that well." Hayashi looked up in surprise of the bags around my eyes. I knew that the nightmare I had last night had something to do with brain burst.

"Follow me, I'll introduce you to the others". Hayashi finishes packing her bag and walks out of the classroom, I proceed to follow after her. She has already confirmed to me that other people use brain burst. I suspected as much since she mentioned someone named Ken-senpai last night. We walk up to the second floor to a unused room, to be more accurate a seemingly unused room. I can probably make the safe assumption that this is where they conduct their activities with brain burst. Hayashi walks and opens the door.

The room has no decorations in it. All it has is a table in the middle with 4 chairs and a desk by the window that is on the far side of the room. A male looking just about my age is sitting at the desk by the window and a female who also looks about my age sits at one of the chairs at the bigger table.

Hayashi looks around the room. "Where's Sato?" she asked the man at the desk.

"He's at soccer practice so he won't be joining us today. More importantly I see you brought me Ito Akira." The man looks at me and smiles. "I am Fukui Ken, the president of the Brain Burst club I secretly run in this room. The girl over there is Hyogo Usagi a member of our club. In this club we work together to advance through the Accelerated World and we punish those who abuse the power of brain burst. Now the you're here you may ask me any questions that you have about Brain Burst". Ken tells me everything this club does on the dot. If they punish those who abuse Brain Burst then that means...

"How long have you been watching me then?" I ask my first question.

"I've watched you for about a week. You play on the private Alfheim Online servers am I correct? Judging by your reaction time on that you seem to be using some type of cheating device. You also seem to not pay attention in class but still manage to keep your marks on par. I assumed that you also used brain burst to do a speed study to know your stuff. It seems from Chika's report however that my assumption was inaccurate". Ken gives me all the details. " Now then my turn to ask the question. Your face is pale and your eyes look heavy. Did you have a nightmare last night? And if so how bad was it?"

Silence enters the room. After 10 seconds I gave my reply. "It was awful". I give my honest answer.

"That's good. That means you will have a strong dual avatar." Ken said still smiling. "If we want to give him a good explanation then I recommend we give him some experience instead of a lecture. There is no way you can learn of the secrets to brain burst in a simple conversation." The girl known as Hyogo Usagi tells Ken.

"That seems reasonable I suppose, Ito-san you may now connect to the Global Net, we need it if you want to access brain burst". Ken concurs to Hyogo while nodding. The smile still hasn't left his face.

"I guess that would be the best course of action, also please just call me Akira". I said while connecting to the Global Net. I sit down in the chair not knowing what will happen.

"Burst Link!" everyone in the room shouts. Everything goes black for me. When I come too I am in a torn apart building. Is this-

"Augmented virtual reality?!" I shout in a surprised tone. Whoever made this did a fine job at it too.

"So it seems like you're blue. I think we may have too many melee based character's on our team but it should be fine." A man in full blueish armor tells me. Wait a minute that can't be Ken-senpai!? "Hey, Akira I'm the one your suppose to be fighting!"I hear someone yell from behind me. I immediately look behind me and see a reddish figure and a yellowish goldish figure. " So, Zaffre Assassin eh? You don't look that tough for a blue avatar.." The red figure which sounds like Hyogo says to me

I begin to examine my own body. I have a zaffre colour to me like everyone else has their own colours, and I have blades extending outwards from both my forearms. I couldn't disagree more with Hyogo's statement, my avatar looks very tough.

"Now then before we begin I think we should explain the rules to Akira. You see this is a fighter game. Each match lasts 30 minutes which is 1.8 seconds in real life. If you look up there you will see your health bar and your special meter gauge". I look up and see two health meters. Zaffre Assassin and Cornell Skater. "Now then let's look at your moves..." Ken said to me.

My moves list don't seem to bad. I have slice and kick as my mains and spin attack as my special move. "I'm tired of waiting, there is only one way to fully figure out your avatar and that is how you fight with it! Now let's begin!" Hyogo yells out and with her skates slides to a safe distance with what seems like a skate.

Now then, she seems to be trying to further our distance. I can assume she works as a long range type. The that means I have to close the distance. I spot a whole in the roof and jump towards it to avoid her potential attacks. As I jump my avatar leaps through the whole and my head hits the ceiling of the next floor.

"Ah!" I yell from the pain. It seems that the physical attributes of my avatar are stronger then I thought. The pain simulation on this game is superb as well. I can hear Ken and Hayashi laughing from the bottom floor. I hear the floor crash ahead. I see Hyogo, or Cornell Skater with a small gun attached to her arm shooting at me. I take every single hit and take a considerable amount of damage to my health. I run while jumping (lightly this time) to side to side to close the distance and attempt a slash. She simpily ducks down to avoid my slice puts her gun to my chest and fires. I scream from the pain and see as her special gauge bar is now filled up.

"Now then let's finish this..." Hyogo states. Her gun turns completely around to reveal a small knife which extends to a sword. She charges straight forward at me at a remarkable speed and finishes me off before I even realize it.

I wake up back in the room in a cold sweat. Everyone else also wakes up. "Usagi that wasn't very fair, you didn't have to be so cruel. Now he lost some points." Ken states in a disappointed tone. "If he's worth keeping then he should be able to rack up points in no time. If he loses them all then he isn't worth keeping in the first place." Hyogo states coldly. Did I do something to her? She doesn't seem to like me very much... Have I met her before?

The day continues on and I do a few practice matches with Hayashi instead. She would let it end in a draw so we wouldn't lose points. The day went on and everyone went their separate ways. I walked hope with Hayashi and Hyogo leaving Ken behind. Today was an important day, for today...

...was the first day I entered the Accelerated World.

**Interlude- Fukui Ken**

I sat at my desk in the quite club room. Everyone just left a moment ago. I reflect on my thoughts of what happened today. Ito Akira's dual avatar far surpasses my expectations. I've never seen a dual avatar with that much agility before. He jumped so high and it wasn't even a special move. In any other programming a level 1 should not be able to do that. If it's not a normal part of the programming then that means he must have...I see, so they really are related. I keep noticing that Akira does not like people calling him by his last name. If they are actually related then I can see why.

"Ito Akira, your story begins now. I hope it shall be an entertaining one".

**Author's Notes: Hello again. It has been sometime since I have updated. I hope to continue this fanfic on a regular basis now. It is very fortunate that I remembered where this story was heading to so I could continue to write it again. This was my first attempt at writing a fight scene. I hope that it was at least somewhat easy to follow. It's hard trying to paint something with words, especially something with so much action involved.**

**Anyways we actually begin the story now. I'm thinking about doing this in story arcs for each character. Though Akira is the main focus of this story I would like to develop the other character's as much as I can. By the way I may say this in the next fic but I want to clear this up now to avoid any confusion. Ken is actually not a year older then everyone, he skipped a grade when he was younger. If he were any older then he would not be able to use Brain Burst. And yes I will explain more on everyone's avatar. By the end of this fic I hope to get everything flushed out.**

**Until Next time!**

**~Devin Murray**


	4. Here comes the Juggernaut!

A week has past in the real world since I started using brain burst. However for me it has been probably been about 3 weeks because of the power of acceleration. It's been longer for everyone else since they have access to the Unlimited Neutral Field which unlike regular acceleration lasts for 1.8 seconds (feels like 30 minutes) and gives them an unlimited amount of time to accelerate. The only person who doesn't use the Unlimited Neutral Field is Hayashi since she is only level 2.

It seems like everyone in the club has a child to parent relationship. Ken was the first and was the parent of Sato (I've only heard of Sato though, never actually met him yet). Sato was the parent of Hyogo and Hyogo was the parent of Hayashi. Now I'm in the family so it's my job at some point to give brain burst to someone else. I'm going to choose not to give it to anyone yet since I've also only started using brain burst myself.

I don't know much of Ken's or Sato's dual avatars but since I've been playing a lot with Hayashi I know a bit more about her. Her avatar name is Jasmine Hawk. She is a ranged sniper class so her attack speed is slow but can do a lot of damage if used correctly. Her special attack is railgun which launches a powerful beam at the enemy which does a lot of damage and will probably blow off a few limbs while it's at it.

I've only scratched the surface of my own dual avatar though. Zaffre Assassin is extremely fast and I just got use to it's speed recently. Its attack speed is high but it doesn't do much damage. I did figure out a neat perk about my avatar though, it seems if I attack the enemy from behind I do a lot more damage. Ken says my dual avatar seems to be not as powerful as he expected but he says if I level up fast I should be a useful asset to the team.

Right now I'm in the net cafe I usually go to, I'm sitting across the table from Hayashi. This is where we usually go to if we want to seek battles with other burst linkers. "You ready?" Hayashi asks me. I nod in response. We both mutter under our breathes, "Burst Link".

After selecting my match I was jumped into a more open world map. There were some torn buildings around for cover but nothing big. The person I was fighting was someone with an arm as a sword and was a bluish colour. I can assume he's level 1 like I am. Analyzing his dual avatar he seems to be a melee based fighter with no ranged attacks. My avatar is bad against someone with range attacks since they can just run and shoot (Hyogo!) while I need to get close enough to slice him. If they're melee I can do a few melee strikes and try to hit them from behind.

The first thing I do is run into a building. I go to the biggest one so I have more places for a surprise attack and if things get messy I can retreat out of this building and into another one. My prey walks into the building I'm in, I'm hiding down between two walls that are torn. The hiding spot I picked was pretty obvious so I don't have much time until he finds me. He seems to be covering himself from all sides and is very cautious. To attack him right now would be stupid, however...

I grab a piece of rubble that was by the floor and throw it at the opposite side. My enemy being aware of all his surroundings and being over cautious turns around and prepares for an oncoming attack from that direction, which leads his back right open.

I charge in from between the two walls towards the opening. With the speed my avatar has he didn't even have a chance to dodge and I slice right through his back for critical damage. I managed to fit in at least two more slices into his back before he manages to jump away from my attack. He escapes from the building (stealing my escape route plan). I chase after him not giving him enough time to get his own turf. I catch up to him quickly, when he sees me all he can do is swing his sword at me. This is the part I've been training for the past week (well 3 weeks). Combining my avatars speed and my reflexes together to make a fast dodge right in front of him and I put my foot down to stop myself on the spot. With his sword already swung another way he attempts to swing it back towards me and hit me. However it's already too late for him. I swing one of my forearm blade right at him and block his sword with my other blade. I keep slashing him with my one hand and it forces him to jump back to avoid my attacks. During all this my special attack gauge is now filled up.

Now aware of my speed my opponent holds his ground knowing he has nowhere to run in the open area of the map. He loses all hope of winning and does a charge for one final assault. His attacks are clumsy and I manage to dodge him like before, this time I don't put my foot down and let him charge right past me. When he does I jump towards his back and execute my spin attack.

When I come to I'm back in the cafe. Hayashi was right across for me. She seemed out of it for not even a second but then came back to. "Win or lose?" she asks me. "An easy win, the guy was probably pretty new since he didn't seem to have any combat experience" I reply back sipping my coffee. If there is anything I like about brain burst it's that I can play a game for 30 minutes and still have my coffee warm.

Several matches later me and Hayashi decide to call it a day, we walk to the bus terminal together and were silent like usual. I'm not sure if I would call it an awkward silence but we just have nothing to say to each other. It is strange though since during any other time I met with Hayashi she seems to be a bit more energetic but during these walks she is very silent. We turn on the street where the bus terminal is and that is when the silence was broken.

"D-do you regret coming to the Accelerated World?" she asks me nervously as f she wanted to get something of her chest. I look at her surprised. "Of course not". I replied "Getting into the Accelerated World was one of the best things that have happened to me". It was true, getting brain burst took me out of my routine and introduced to a world of infinite possibilities. Thus I find Hayashi's question quite strange since she should have known that already. "How about you? Do you have any regrets?" I ask her the same thing. It seems that the question she asked has been something that has been running through her head for a long time, and I don't think it was for me. A silence runs through us until we are in front of the bus terminal. She looks up at me and replies "I don't really know. I haven't really thought about it since I hit level 2 but once I get into the Unlimited Neutral Field I can spend years within the Accelerated World. Everyone else does the same thing. They spend about three hours there and that's one third of a year. I'm going to be growing older mentally and everyone else is going to be the same. I can be hundreds of years old and everyone else is just going to be the same." Hayashi expresses her fear of the power of brain burst to me.

This girl has been holding this thought in for a very long time. She's right though, brain burst is a curse in that aspect. It becomes difficult to talk to other people who experience time normally. When I think about it's like every single one of your friends will act normally because it's only been a day but for you everyone will be an old friend who you haven't seen for a very long time. "I'm sorry fur asking such a stupid question, Akira." She says very quickly bows and begins to run off. "Wait". I yell at her and she stops in her tracks. I'm not sure why I said that, I do my best not to run into run into people's problems but for whatever reason I'm compelled to at least help her. She has helped me escape from this dull world and I think I should return a favour even if it's something small like this.

"Since I've been brought to the Accelerated World my entire life has been changed. Since I have met you my entire life has changed. When I think of the future I know there is going to be a lot more change. When I didn't have brain burst my entire life remained stagnant. I would much rather have this change then have nothing at all. I know you're scared of what the future holds but I'll be there every step of the way. If you're scared of growing old then just remember that I'll be growing old with you". I tell her my honest opinion on what I was thinking. She seems very surprised on what I just told her. It wasn't until her face began going a bit red that I noticed that what I said seemed a bit like a marriage proposal. "I mean we'll all be there together, you, I, Ken, Sato and Hyogo will all be there to back each other up and we are all aging in the Accelerated World, that what I meant". I quickly add to my previous statement. Holy crap am I out of character for this girl. I need to calm down and act like myself again.

"Anyways I'm going to miss my bus soon. So I'll be heading out now." I tell her and begin to walk away. "Akira!" Hayashi yells out to me. "Thank you…".The words felt nice to hear but I continue to walk to my bus stop not turning back.

I sit on the bus and wait for my stop to come. I'm on the Global Net reading a book to pass the time. While reading I notice that everything turns blue and I'm accelerating. I find myself in the same stage as when I fought the blue swordsman. Instead of the blue swordsmen however I find a giant steel avatar in its place. I read the avatar name Steel Juggernaut.

"Zaffre Assassin I have been ordered by my master to take you down". The giant tells me in a deep voice. I'm caught by surprise when he begins to charge at me. He's not too fast so I manage to dodge him with ease. Attacking him up front would be stupid since I can tell he does a lot of damage so I retreat to one of he buildings to hide.

I hide in between the two walls like before. I don't have enough time to think of a better hiding spot so I need to repeat a strategy I used before. No one was spectating that match so it should be safe to use. The Juggernaut does not run through the door but instead crashes right through the wall. He doesn't bother looking or defending himself but instead tears apart the entire building looking for me. My hiding spot isn't great and when he punches the wall I'm hiding behind he sits me as well. I get sent flying across the torn building. He notices me and grabs my leg and begins to toss me around beating me with everything in sight. He eventually throws me across the map. The building I was in is no more and I lost most of my health already.

This person has no strategy what so ever. He is simply tossing me around like a rag doll and destroys everything in his path. He begins his charge towards me. The only thing I can do is dodge him and attempt to hit him from behind. I successfully dodge him and get behind him. He's so slow that he doesn't even have the chance to turn around. I took enough damage to execute my spin attack and before he turns around I even manage to get plenty of slices in. I jump back to bring distance between us.

"Not bad, I'm surprised someone like you managed to get any sort of attack in'. He doesn't seem that shocked. I am shocked into disbelief though. I look up at his health bar and it's not even a quarter down. Even with my special attack and a few slices from behind the damage it did was so little. "I must admit you are putting up much more of a fight then that girl".

Time stops for me. Is he talking about Hayashi? If he's hired by his master to take me out then haye must also be hired to take out Hayashi as well. And if he knew where we both were does that mean he knows our real life faces? Whatever the case may be this is bad. I'm mad that Hayashi also lost to this man but I must remain calm or else all chance of winning this battle is gone. Since I did some damage to him he must also still be at a low level.

He begins to do another charge at me. He doesn't seem to know any other strategy except of destroying everything. I take this to my advantage and do another back slice to him. I do less damage to him since I've already used my special attack. We repeat this cycle for a bit until he has half health.

"You use your speed effectively, I was told not to use it but I guess I have no choice". He give s me a hint that he is going to use his special attack. I have no idea what's in store for me but I make sure to keep my distance. His special meter goes down and I feel something pulling at me. Is this…magnetism?

He manages to grab a hold of me and bashes me into the ground. Eventually I lose all my health and lose the battle. I'm back on the bus with my book open. Sweat pours down my face. My adrenaline was running so much during that fight that I realized that I was supposed to be in a lot of pain. There are too many questions running in my head. Who was that person? Who does he work for? Why does he want me and Hayashi gone? I wait for my bus to stop and remain cautious for people watching me on my way out. I take detours on my way home to see if someone is watching me but I find no one following me. Eventually I go home with the mystery still running through my head.

**Interlude- Hayashi Chika**

I'm sitting at the bus terminal alone. I missed my bus after the shock of losing to my opponent. Just a little while ago I was so happy when Akira tried to comfort me. Now there is someone hunting us down. He came at me first and I didn't stand a chance, Akira probably also won't stand a chance. His attacks were brutal and unorganized. Now more then ever I can't help but regret coming to the Accelerated World. I regret bringing Akira here as well. The Steel Juggernaut was ruthless in his attack and the pain simulators were just as relentless. I'm scared, I'm scared that Akira will now hate me for bringing him into this; the Juggernaut isn't going to stop. He's going to be hunting us every day until we have no more points left. I begin to wait for the next bus holding in my tears of sadness and fear.

**Author's Notes: I'll be quite honest I found writing this chapter to be very difficult. I knew what I wanted to do with the story but I had no idea how to get from point A to B. I think the start I had was slow with the fight on the very minor character, and I found developing Hayashi was hard and I still don't feel like I did the character justice. With the Steel Juggernaut I was fine with since this was the point B in which I wanted to go to. Looking back on this chapter I think that I didn't do that bad of a job with the writer's block I was having before but I'll lead that for you the readers to decide.**

**We now begin the Juggernaut story. This is going to be a shorter story so it might even end next chapter. I will go with the flow and my own instincts and see where it takes me.**

**Until Next time!**

**~Devin Murray**


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